Our group will be ending our river cruise in Antwerp next year. We are wanting to see a few WWI and WWII sites which are closest to Antwerp or Brussels. I'd like a recommendation for a guide with transportation. We are not WWII vets, just interested in history.
I'm thinking the places I checked out are all too far away and perhaps I should just look for things for us to do in Antwerp...but I have to TRY first! Please help.
There are WWI sites around Ieper / Ypres, and WWII sites such as the Atlantikwall at the Belgian coast (Raversyde), and also WWII sites clustered around Bastogne / Luxembourg. Finding a guide to do all of these is a bit unrealistic as this is 2 different directions; possibly going in the direction of the Belgian coast / Ypres might repay you. I have been to Ypres and seen some of the cemeteries and sites. Be aware that there is little American involvement in WWI, but if you want to understand the impact that WWI had on Belgium, don't miss Ypres. The Bastogne sites are hard to get to and you need a car, or a guide with a car.
There is quite a business built on guides to the Ypres area. You should be able to google it, there are plenty of tours and tour guides.
Lavandula
In April, we did a WWI tour from Antwerp that I couldn't recommend highly enough! We used Flanders Field Battlefield Day Tours: https://www.visitbruges.org/
Because Antwerp is a bit further away from the main sites, we arranged a private tour where we took the train to Kortrijk (which is just over an hour from Antwerp) and were collected there at the station. Our guide, Jonas, was amazing- he is from the area and is incredibly knowledgable. He took us to the main sites around Ypres but can customise based on your interest. I'm someone who isn't super interested in military history myself (I booked the tour more for the interests of others in our group) but it actually wound up being my favourite day of that holiday and the things we saw have really stayed with me. The military historians in our group loved it, too. I hope this is helpful- good luck with your planning!
Cat VH - Thank you so much! That is exactly what we are looking for. This is a big help.
Debbie
